Railroad-signal.



' UNITED STATI-3s PATIENT FFICE.'

DAVID M'. "sNYDR," oF ABINGDON, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoR or ONE-FOURTH To FRANK s. MARSHALL, or ABINGDON, ILLINOIS. t y

RAILROAD-slcNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,347, aatedlvrarch s1, 1903.

' Application filed June 23,1902. Serial No. 112,865. (No model.) I

To all wtowt t may con/cern:

Be it known thatI, DAVID M. SNYDER,a citizen of the U-nited States, residing at Abingdon, in the county of Knox and State of Illinois,have inventeda new and useful Railroad- Signal, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to railway-signals, and has for its object to produce an improved Io apparatus for signaling at railway-crossings to give timely Warning'of approaching trains, the' apparatus being so constructed thatit Will be operative only on the side of the crossing from which the train is approaching and i5 will be inoperative by the train after it has passed the crossing, sol that the trains will not sound or display a signal after they have passed the crossing. v

The invention consists in a trip mechanism 2o adapted to be engaged by the passing train and so connected to .the signaling mechanism thatit will operate t-he signal when the train is going in one direction only.

The invention vfurther consists inl two or z 5 more trip mechanisms located at opposite sides of the signal mechanism and at opposite sides of the crossing and so constructed and connected as to be operative only when the train is approaching the crossing and not 3o operative by the train after it has passed the crossing.

The invention further consists in certain novel features of the construction, as will be hereinafter described, and specified in the claims.

In railway signal apparatus arranged to bel operated at railway-crossings it is important that the signals shall be actuated only while the train is approaching the crossing, lso that 4o persons about to cross the tracks will know when the signal is sounded or displayed that a train is approaching and not leaving the crossing; and the principal Object ofthe invention which is the object of the present application is, to produce a simple, easily-installed, and operative device which-will work accurately, promptly, and with certainty'and which will operate when the train is approaching from either direction.

The signaling apparatus will be located adjacent to the crossing at a point adapted to vwarn approaching passengers, while the tripping mechanism will be located at points4 of a railway-track with portions broken out and with .the improved signaling apparatus connected therewith. Fig. 2 is a plan-view of the same. Fig.` rolis an enlarged side View; and Fig. 4 is a plan view, on the same scale, of the trip mechanism. Fig. 5 is a perspective View, on a smaller scale than Figs. 3 and 4, of the 'signaling apparatus detached.

The device'may be applied to any construction of railway, either'steam or electric, and inthe drawings a section of a railway-track consisting of the usual rails 10and 11 and ties 12 is shown. v

The signal apparatus as a whole Will necessarily cover a suiiici'ent distance or length of the railway-track, so that ample notice shall he given of approaching trains, and this distance will generally be from one thousand to two thousand feeton each side of the railway-crossing, these'distances being governed somewhat by the circumstances and the conditions of the road-bed or the objects adjacent to the crossing.

In the drawings illustrative of thev inven-V tion, Figure l is aside elevation of sectionsl The apparatus is applicable to all the conl ditions and circumstances ,adjacent to the crossing and is adapted to all the varying conditions usually met with in such localities.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, the rails and signal connections are shown in sections,

illustrating the fact"that the total length of the parts sought to be illustrated are ver;7

the present invention, and the arrangement' is so lwell understood ,as not to require illustration. L

The signaling mechanism is supported upon a base 13, extending at right angles to they rails 10 and 11 to any suitable distance and will be located adjacent to the crossing aty onel side, while the first or nearest trip mechanism will be located some hundreds of feet from the signal mechanism at one side of the ico crossing, while the opposite trip mechanism.-

will be located on the' opposite side of the v crossing some hundreds ot' feet therefrom. A

series of these trip mechanisms will be lo.- cated some distance .apart in both directions from the crossing, the number corresponding to the circumstances of the road-bed'andthe objects adjacent to the crossing.

The signaling apparatus consists of a standlard 14, rising from the base 13 and extended over at itsy upper part and provided'with'a gong or bell 16. Movably su p'ported n pon the base 13, adjacent to the standard 14, are two standards or striker-arms 1718, movably supported at their lower ends, as at 19, to the base v13 and provided with spring hammer-arms 21 22, adapted to cause balls 23, carried by their upper ends, to strike the gong 16 When the v standards 17 18 are forcibly vibrated. The standards 17 18 areiconnectedby rods23 24 to bell-crank levers 25 26, pivotally supported at 27 28 to the base 13, adjacentto one of'the'rails 10 or 11, as the case may be. rThe rods 23 24 lwill be provided with turnbuckles 29 30, by whichv their lengths may be ad-y justed. The bell-crank levers will be retained in place bya strap 31 and will'be held normally in their open position by springs 32 33. By this means-the Vsprings 32 33 will cause the rods 2324 to return the arms 17 18to their normal position when the bellcrank levers are released, as will be hereinafter explained.' The rods 23 24 will be suitably supported longitudinally by a bracket 32, andin localities Where it is necessary to prolong the base 13 a series of these brackets 32 will be employed, so that the gong and its supports and hammer-bars 17 18 may be located at any desired distance from the tracks.

The standard 14 may be made of any height' and the bars ,17 18 of corresponding height, according to requirements of thel location where it is erected.

The trip mechanism is illustrated more fully in Figs. 3 and 4 and, as before stated, will be located at suitable points upon each t Aside of the crossing and as many of the trip mechanisms employed as may be required. These trip mechanisms are all precisely alike, so that like denoting characters will be employed for each. Each of the trip mechanisms Will be provided with a base 33, suitably supported adjacent to one of the rails, pret'- `erably outside the rails, but which may be under certain conditions located between the rails. AThe base-plate Will be properly secured, preferably by'being connected above the ties 12 orto a separate foundation, as

.. may be required. Supported upon the baseplate'are, two spaced longitudinal bars 34 35, being attached to the base-plate, preferably, by'feet 3637 and bolts 38 39, as shown. Vertically arranged between the bars 34 35 is a trip-plate 41, thel trip-plate beingpivotally supported between the bars by a transverse stud 42 andwith an aperture 43 formed in its lower part,'the aperturebeing elongated and the trip -plate made wider at its lowerl end to providefor the elongated aperture.

The upper end of the trip-plate 41 preferably projects above thehead ot' the adjacent rail or111, as the casev maybe, and will lpreferably be'lo'cate'd close :tothe head-'of the rail, so as tojbe engaged bythe treads of the pilot-Wheels of the locomotive-truck and also .by the treads of the other wheels of the'train,

so that each Wheel of the train Will successively engage the trip-plate as'the train passes plates are arranged at intervals all the wheels of the train on one'side will engage all of the over them, and' where a number of the trp-- trip-plates successively, as will be understood.

Instead o f arranging the device so that the.` treads of the Wheels lwill engage the trip, :plates aseries of contact bars or lrollers may lbe varranged upon the train to engage the trip-platesyandl'do not, therefore,k desire to be limited tothe use of any specic pa'rt of the train or to any'spec'ifc attachment thereto for engaging the vtrip-plates, as many ditferent parts of the train', either of the running-gear or of the bodies ot' the locomotive or tender or coaches or cars, may be employed for the purpose of operating the trip-plates.

Supported in a suitable bearing 44 upon theplate 33, opposite the vertical central line of the trip-plate 41, is a rock-shaft 45, having an arm 46 on its inner end and a similar arm 47 onvits outer end, the arm 46 having a stud `48 extending. into the aperture 43, asindicated. Supported upon the base 33 at one side ot`y the longitudinal bars 34 and 35 is a bearing 49,'-supporting another rock-shaft 50,

having arms 51 52 extending from its ends,

respectively, as shown. The arm 52 is connected to the arm 47 by aconnecting-rod 53,

While the arm 51' is connected 'to the inner ICQ IOS

end of the crank-arm 26 or 25, as the case may left when force is appliedV to its upper end, as

when a car-wheel engages it, as will be readily understood. j A

`It will be noted that if the car-Wheel strikes the trip 41 from the direction vof the arrow in Fig. 3 thevupper end of the trip-plate will be moved over tothe right and cause the stud 48 to be moved to the left, thus rotating the yrock-shaft 45 correspondingly and depressing the arm 47 and causing the rod 53 to rotate rthe rock-shaft 50 and cause the arm 51to draw the rod 54 toward the trip-plate,and thus actuate the crank-arms 25 26, as the case may be, and sound thegong or bell 16,

TIO

through therods 29 or l3Oand hammer-arms 17 `18, as the case may be, or according to which direction vthe train may be moving. y'

` may be located, so .that the arms 46 and-.t7-

.The studs 48 will be located `in the end of the slots 43 nearestto the signal mechanism, no matter on which side of the latter Athey will aways be extended'toward' the signaling apparatus-that is to say, all of the mechan y isms upon the right-hand side of the signal mechanism will be so arranged that their respective arms 45 46 will be extended to the left or toward the signalmechanism and all the mechanism upon-the left-hand side ofthe signal mechanism will beso arranged that their respective varms 45 46 will be extended to the right or toward the signaling mechanism. By thisV arrangement it will be evident that by reason of the studs 48 fitting the elongated slots 43 and engaging the slots by one end only when the trip-plates are moved from the opposite side or from the side toward the signal mechanism the trip-plates will noteiect the studs,lbut will move over them without operating them. It will be thus understood that when the train is moving toward the signal mechanism it will act upon Athe trip-plates in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 3 and actuat-e the signal mechanism, but will not affect the signal mechanism when moving in the opposite direction. It will also be understood that by locating the trip mechanisms upon each side moved toward the signal apparatus the latter-will be operated, and the face of all the trip-arms upon each side of the crossing being coupled together by the rods 54 will not interfere with their cooperative or independent action, as the rods will 'simply move the trip-arms to a certain extent when any one or more of the trip-arms are depressed without detriment to theoperation of the apparatus.

To insure a sufficient degree of flexibility to the apparatus to prevent undue or unequal strains, coiled springs 55 will be inserted into the rods 54 between each pair of the armsl, so that the latter will yield sufficiently to prevent breakage. The arms 51 will each be provided with a'spring 56 to assist in retaining the parts in their proper normal operative position and to restore them to their proper places after each action.

The dierent structures supported upon the base-plate 33 will be detachably con nectedv thereto, so as to be readily removed for retion lbetween the ballsorhamln ers 23 and the arms 17 18, thereby securing the necessary yieldable action between'the gongand the sounding-hammers.

' Beneath the plate 33 opposite the trip-arm- L 4l is arranged a casi'ng57, into which the .tripkarm projects and which a'iords asnpport for y the lower end of the spring 55, s othat the trip-arm and springhave ample room for their necessary movements.

The turnbuckles 29k 30 serve an purpose, as they enable the partsVV to be properly adjusted, so'that vtheir action upon the levers 17,18 will be of just suiicient strength important y to cause the hammers 23 to act with the proper force upon the gongvl. By this simple structure the gong 16 isl sounded when theY first wheel of the pilot-truck of the locomotive engages themost remote'of the trips 4l on the side of ,the crossing from which the train is train has passed the nearest trip-'arm to theV crossing, while at the same time thetrain in leaving the crossing on the opposite sidewill simplylpass over the trip-arms Without causing them to adect the signals. This is a very important feature of the invention, as the person approaching the crossingwhen he hears the signals will know that a train is approachingand will not be deceived or misled as he might be if the signal mechanism were so arranged as to be sounded both'when the train is approaching and leaving the crossing.

The different parts of the apparatus may be made of any required size and adapted to withstand the severe strains to which they l will besubjecte'd by the rapidly.- running trains striking the trip-plates. All of the parts will preferably be of steel, except the gong 16, and will be of proper proportions to each withstand the strains to which it will be subjected, and the `trip plates, as before stated, may be located at any desired distance from the crossing and withI any desired distance betweentheindividual trip mechanisms, these distances, as before stated, de-

pending somewhat upon the conditions adj a- 'cent to the crossing.

Where the crossings, occur near to heavy cuts or Where obstructions obscure the vlewof approachingtrains, the trip mechanisms will in such localities 'railway-crossings are the most dangerous. countries where the View is unobstructed for dividual tripping mechanisms might be increased and the number of separate tripsdecreased; but it will be understoodthat Idol not Wish to be limited to any specific number Vof the tripping mechanisms or to their dis- On the other hand, in ,opena long distance the distances betweenthe inf l lances apart or to their distances from ythe crossings, as the device is adapted to be` modiiied to enable it to be employed under all the different conditions and in the kdiiferent'localities where such a deviceis reemired.V f lI-Iaving thus described my invention, what 1. In a railway-signal, a base-frame, spaced i longitudinal barsdetachably connected "to said base-frame, a trip-plate movably supported by said bars and rhaving'anelongatedY aperture, am ain rock-shaft movably connected-to said base-plate and. having an arm on 'its inner end movably engaging said ape'rtu re and with an arm extending from its outer end, a supplemental rock-shaft supported movably upon said base-plate and having arms extendingfrom its opposite ends, a spring connected to saidv supplemental rock-shaft arm and adapted to normally support it in l operative position,arod connecting said outer arm on said main rock-shaft with one of the arms of said supplemental rock-shaft, asignal mechanism, and a connecting means between the other of said supplement-al rocksh'aft arms and said signal mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In arailWay-signal, a base-frame, spaced longitudinal bars detachably connected to said base-frame, a trip-plate movably supported by said bars and having an elongated aperture, a main rock-shaft movably connected to said base-plate and having an arm on one end nlov'ably engaging said'aperture and i with an arm extending from its outer end, a

supplemental rock-shaft supportedI movably upon said base-plate and having arms extending from its opposite ends, a rod connecting said outer extended arm on said main rock- `shaft with one of the arms ofsaid supplemental rock-shaft, a signal mechanism', and connecting means between' the other of said su pplemental rock-shaftarms and said signal mech- ,'anism', substantially asdescribed. A, `z, 3. In arailWay-signal, spaced longitudinal members, a trip-arm v,movably supported be- -tvvee'n'saidv longitudinalmemhers in position to be engaged by the passing trains and provided with an elongated aperture, a .rockshaft carried by saidframe and .having au arm onkone endengagingone end of said aperture, 'an arm extendingjfrom the opposite endof said-rock-"shafga signal mechanism,

and means connecting said `signal mechanism its ends, a rod connecting one of said eXtended armsWith the outer arm of said main rockshaft, a signal mechanism, land operative means between said signal mechanism and the otherof said supplemental rockshaft arms, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. DAVID M SNYDER.

Witnesses:

AROY R. MARSHALL, l STRAWTHER GIVENS. 

